From the Archives: "The Politics of Foot Washing"

Each month, our blog features articles from the archives of Liturgy. Our goal is to share the wisdom from decades past so that we might celebrate the work and insights of these excellent ministers and scholars.

Tripp York (Image Souce)

In 2005, Liturgy published an article by Tripp York, entitled “Dirty Basins, Dirty Disciples, and Beautiful Crosses: The Politics of Foot Washing.” Citing Article Thirteen of the Mennonite Confession of Faith, Tripp York shows the deep meaning of footwashing to be servanthood and a key practice in sustaining the body of Christ. For the Mennonite tradition, footwashing takes faith away from a “spirituality” that is “disembodied, privatized, and depoliticized.” Because love is defined by Jesus as a verb rather than a noun, Jesus showed what it is by taking the position of a servant in washing feet. He commanded us to do likewise. The wash basin becomes the symbol of the church rather than the signs of those who enjoy royalty and disdain the work of the servant. “The basin. . . is what gives the crucifixion its intelligibility.”

York uses the writings of early church theologians to show the long tradition of focus on foot-washing for its ability to train the church in the life that follows Jesus’ example. It is preparation for our mission, requiring humility

Selected Quotes from

“Dirty Basins, Dirty Disciples, and Beautiful Crosses: The politics of foot washing”

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“Those churches (Anabaptist, Protestant, or Catholic) that continue to imitate Jesus via footwashing serve as hermeneutical examples of what it means to envision a Christianity predicated on a particular kind of political posture: servanthood.”

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“The liturgical act of washing one another’s feet is done in imitation of and obedience to the crucified and risen Jesus. Such obedience is not optional but is mandatory as the Christian life is predicated on the following of its master. This following is not an end in itself but is done for the sake of the world. In this sense, footwashing, as it is a witness to the kind of God we serve, is not simply efficacious to those who participate in it, but is efficacious to the world, for it is a witness to the triune God.”

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“Those Christians who do not practice footwashing bear the burden of proof as to why they have decided not to imitate Jesus.”

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“The literal practice of footwashing was already in place prior to Jesus (though nowhere in the ancient world do we find an example where the master washed the feet of his disciples).”

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When this essay was published, Tripp York was a PhD student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, writing about The Politics of Martyrdom and working as an instructor at Elon College. Currently, he teaches religion and theology at Lenoir–Rhyne University in North Carolina. His 11 books include nonfiction, novellas, and a children’s book, and cover subjects such as animals, martyrdom, politics, violence, religious satire, and comics. 

If you would like access to this article, please follow this link:

Tripp York, “Dirty Basins, Dirty Disciples, and Beautiful Crosses: The Politics of Footwashing,” Liturgy 20, no. 1 (2005): 11–18, https://doi.org/10.1080/04580630590522858.